Rewind Reviews

Costume Quest: Grubbins on Ice was developed by Double Fine Productions and published by THQ. It was released on December 21st, 2010 and retails at 400 Microsoft Points.

When Double Fine Productions launched Costume Quest, their Halloween themed RPG last fall, it became an instant classic. With simple yet satisfying gameplay, superb writing, and the charm of a
children's book, Costume Quest won the hearts of gamers around the world. A few months later, Double Fine followed up by releasing the Grubbins on Ice add-on. This time set during the winter season, Grubbins on Ice takes our group of heroes and puts them far away from home, in the monster's world of Repugia. The result is a mixture of a very solid offering, and missed opportunities that left us wanting more.

Costume Quest was developed by Double Fine Productions, and published by THQ. The game was released on October 19th, 2010.

In October of 2010, Double Fine Productions introduced the world to a colorful classic in the making known as Costume Quest. Players are introduced to the brother-sister duo of Reynold and Wren on the night of Halloween. The pair head out trick or treating but the night quickly spins out of control as monsters kidnap one of the two, and reveal a plot to steal all of the neighborhood's candy. What is a kid to do when monsters take your sibling away and plan to ruin every youngster's Halloween? Take on a quest to free your family member and stop the monsters from ruining everyone's holiday that's what!

Bangai-O HD: Missile Fury was developed by Treasure and published by D3. It was released on May 4th, 2011 and retails for 800 Microsoft Points. A copy of the game was provided for review purposes.

When the name Treasure is mentioned one thing usually comes to mind: hardcore arcade style shooters. Since its founding in 1992, Treasure has made its name primarily by developing bullet hell shooters like Radiant Silvergun, Ikaruga, and Sin & Punishment. Bangai-O originally made its debut for the Nintendo 64 and has since grown from a Japanese only release, to one of Treasure's full fledged franchises. Fast forward a few years and say hello to Bangai-O HD: Missile Fury for Xbox Live Arcade, the latest entry in Bangai-O series.

Penny Arcade: On the Rain Slick Precipice of Darkness Episode 1 and Episode 2 were developed by Hothead Games. They originally retailed for 1600 MSP and 1200 MSP respectively. They now both have been permanently reduced to 800 MSP each.

The Penny Arcade games are both fairly traditional RPG’s put together in an episodic format. With the third episode finally having been announced this is the perfect time to revisit these titles. Episode 2 makes some improvements over the first but they are largely similar except as far as story is concerned. With that in mind this will be a joint review for both episodes. The theme of the games is difficult to define. Seemingly set in the past it also contains a great deal of futuristic technology. But those up for an interesting mix of themes will be in for a treat.Read More

R-Type: Dimensions was developed by Southend Interactive and published by Tozai Games. It retails for 1200 MSP and was released February 4, 2009.

R-Type: Dimensions is an HD remake of R-Type released in 1987 and R-Type 2 released in 1989. They are both horizontal shooters which, along with the Gradius series, defined the genre. For those who don’t know the genre is defined by brutal difficulty, mandatory memorization, tactical gameplay, and blowing up aliens. In R-Type: Dimensions you control one ship against the entire Bydo alien race. The Sci-Fi space theme works well and lends itself to crazy bosses and enemies. R-Type’s historical importance is without question, but it is also one of the few games that old that still holds up to modern gameplay standards.

Wolfenstein 3D was developed by id Software and released by Activision. It retails for 400 MSP and was released June 3, 2009.

Wolfenstein 3D is the great granddaddy of modern first person shooters. It essentially invented the genre and laid the groundwork for Doom to be released a year later. In 1992 it was a technical tour de force that became the fastest spreading shareware game of its time. You play as BJ Blazkowicz whose goal is to escape from Castle Wolfenstein and foil the Nazi plot. The action is bloody and brutal, but the real question is whether is stands up after almost 20 years.

Zombie Apocalypse was developed by Nihilistic Software, Inc. and published by Konami. It was released on September 23, 2009 and costs 800 MSP.

Zombies, weapons and hazards, oh my! Zombie Apocalypse is a bloody twin-stick shooter, that pits you and up to three friends against hordes of zombies. Journey across several stages, all with there own design, traps and advantages. With a few friends, a bunch of weapons and some luck, we head off to survive this end-of-times.

Elements of Destruction was developed by Frozen Codebase and published by THQ. It was released on June 18, 2008 and costs 800 MSP.

In Elements of Destruction you play the role of an evil scientist who has been fired from his job and wants to exact revenge on the corporate world. Like any evil scientist would, you build a machine that harnesses the power of mother nature and take your anger and frustration out on the world. Your evil alter ego will come alive as you unleash the lightning, tornadoes and earthquakes at your control and you cause destruction and mayhem across the globe.

Catan was developed by Big Huge Games and was released May 2, 2007. It retails for 800MSP.

Catan is the Xbox Live Arcade rendition of the incredibly popular board game The Settlers of Catan. It's a turn based strategic game that centers around shrewd trading and resource management. Games rarely take more than 45 minutes to an hour so it's rather fast paced for a German style board game. This version of Catan most certainly captures the feel of this classic game; in both visuals and gameplay it's true to its roots.

Prince of Persia Classic was developed by Gameloft SA and published by Microsoft Game Studios. It was released June 13, 2007 for 800MSP.

Children of the early 1990's know the original Prince of Persia well. Released in 1989 on the Apple II it was later ported to over a dozen other platforms. The premise is simple: the Sultan's advisor Jaffar (sound familiar?) locks the princess in a room in the tallest tower, while he boyfriend prince is sent to the dungeons. Jaffar gives the princess one hour to choose to either marry him or be executed, and our nameless hero must reach the top of the tower and defeat the villain to save the day. At its heart it's a simple platform action game, and it doesn't try to be anything more.